Kidwelly quay
The area around this quay remains rural. It didn’t become built-up, unlike the land at most harbours, but in the late 19th century a steam-powered saw mill stood east of the quay.
Industrialist Thomas Kymer built the quay and Wales’ first canal in the late 1760s. Coal mined at Gwendraeth travelled the 4.8km (3-mile) canal to the quay, where it was transferred to ships. Further canals were developed in the 19th century to connect the coalfield to Kidwelly and to Burry Port harbour.
In the 1860s the process began of converting the canals into mineral railways. In April 1872 it was reported that the railway to Kidwelly quay had been completed. South of the quay, the railway was laid alongside the canal ditch.
Today the Wales Coast Path south-eastwards from here follows the route of the “Kidwelly Quay Branch” of the Burry Port & Gwendraeth Valley Railway, which had to use low-height locomotives because bridges over the canals weren’t rebuilt during the conversion to railways. The BPGVR became part of the Great Western Railway and later British Rail, which had the cabs of diesel locos cut down to fit under the bridges!
Kidwelly quay was prone to siltation, and Burry Port harbour eclipsed it for coal export. It was also exposed to westerly gales. In 1886 a strong wind toppled the quay’s crane.
The quay remained important to local brick companies. Fred Stephens’ Dinas Silica Works, east of Kidwelly railway station, had sidings linked to the main railway network but also a tramway along what’s now Quay Road. From there, ships took his bricks and cement to other UK ports or overseas, including Belgium in 1895.
Over two days in October 1905, the quay shipped 500 tons of silica bricks from Dinas works and another factory to Glasgow. This followed improvements to the quay, making it easier for steamers to get in and out, but the tramway had gone by the First World War.
The railway to the quay had been removed by the late 1940s, and the quay became a rubbish tip. In the 1980s the quay was re-excavated and repaired and the area landscaped. The quay was listed Grade II in 1998.